Microsoft's Apple revenge: the pleasure and the pain

Schadenfreude offers no guarantees

Common Topics

Radio Reg Steve Ballmer's summer has been dominated by Microsoft's delayed response to the iPad and iPhone.

He reassured investors last month that Microsoft is energized and that nobody's sleeping until the job's done.

That said, the Windows slates Ballmer touted as coming this Fall are unlikely to be running Windows 7 and won't be using Intel's latest power-efficient Oak Trail chips. That'll be coming next year.

Which makes you wonder: what on earth will Microsoft offer consumers and businesses users this year? And where exactly the applications are coming from?

Microsoft was probably breathing a sigh of relief over Oracle's decision to prosecute Google for Android's claimed abuse of Java-related patents. But just how much upside for the coming Windows Phone 7 handsets is there in the fact the Android – the market's fastest growing smart phone operating system – could have its wings clipped by Oracle's case?

And with evidence mounting that Hewlett-Packard chief executive Mark Hurd's was ousted over a lack of vision, what are the chances Microsoft CEO could also be headed for the exit door with a decade of missed opportunities and strategic missteps in his wake?

Reg software editor Gavin Clarke and All-About-Microsoft blogger Mary-Jo Foley discuss what's really in store for Microsoft's Windows tablets and phone as we head towards their end-of-year delivery. And yes, we ask who at Microsoft might inflict an HP-style Hurding on Ballmer.

You can listen using the Reg player below, or by downloading the MP3 here or Ogg here. ®